Tracy Lawrence Says Homeschooling Helps Him Spend More Time With Family

It's a common complaint from country stars: Time on the road means less time at home with spouses and kids. And then when they are home, the kids spend all day in school and then work through their extra-curricular routines before it's off to bed they go. Tracy Lawrence says switching to homeschooling his youngest children helps keep them close by.

"It's given me better quality time with my family," Lawrence tells Taste of Country. "And right now I haven't been home much, because I've been in album set up mode, but I do try to take a lot of time to do things with the kids."

The singer released 'Headlights, Taillights and Radios' on Aug. 20. It's his 14th studio album and the first on Lawrence Music Group. Like starting a record label, starting a homeschooling network with five or six other families felt like a pretty big risk.

"I was really terrified of it, because I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to adequately provide the right education for our children," the singer explains. "But what it does is, it's brought everyone closer together, and my kids tested a grade or a grade-and-a-half above their age level when we did testing in the spring of this year."

Lawrence also talked about how he reevaluated his entire career to make sure this record was progressive, but still consistent with what his longtime fans expect. He didn't want the same old, same old.

"I’ve never been one to chase what everyone else was doing," Lawrence says. "But I felt like I needed to find what was comfortable for me to grow, and to challenge myself and evolve."